Town sets record for biggest ham biscuit

SMITHFIELD, Va. -- "The Ham Capital of the World" is now the home of the largest ham biscuit ever baked, according to the Guinness Book of World Records.

The 2,200-pound sandwich was created to commemorate the town of Smithfield's 250th anniversary last Sept. 28. Project organizers who sent an application to Guinness received an e-mail Thursday: "You are now a Guinness World Record holder!"

Betty Thomas, who submitted the application and helped plan the biscuit baking, was thrilled.

"I was dancing all around the room," she said. "For the last five months, whether I was at the post office, the grocery store, on Main Street, it was, 'Have you heard from Guinness?"'

The biscuit, which was baked in a custom oven and removed with a forklift, measured 8 feet in diameter. After being stuffed with 500 pounds of Smithfield ham, it stood 2 feet high. The idea was to make a ham biscuit big enough to feed 1,752 people because 1752 was the year of the town's charter.